A typical nanowell chip is composed of a 72×72 array (5184) of wells or cavities in the chip substrate. In such typical chips, each well is 450 μm in diameter and 940 μm deep and is filled with nanoliter volumes of liquid reactant. The small size precludes removal of the reacted material by pipette, for example, as is done with conventional 96 or 384 well plates. Given the small size of the wells, the surface tension of the fluid inside the wells becomes a much larger component of the forces that must be overcome to remove the liquid from the wells, thus complicating the removal process.